The following U.S. Patents disclose motion detection alerting devices, such as those used on vehicles, bicycles and children's toys.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,667 (Ames) discloses a bicycle alarm device for audibly warning the bicycle owner that his/her bicycle is being moved impermissibly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,914 (Dallas) discloses a bicycle helmet warning system to alert the seated rider that the helmet stowed in a helmet holder of the bicycle is not being worn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,538 (Miller) discloses a safety device for a motorcycle which includes a device that actuates the horn of a motorcycle if the side stand is down, the ignition is on, and the motorcycle is in the driving position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,515 (Hyman et al.) discloses a child's toy that is worn by the child and includes, among other things, a motion switch for detecting movements of the toy and for generating sounds responsive to the movements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,397 (Taylor) discloses a two-sensitivity level kinetic sensor that activates an alarm circuit whenever the surface, upon which the sensor is disposed, is moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,663 (Sibley) discloses a device for sensing vehicular mechanical motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,205 (Von Kemenczky) discloses a switch device for use on an illuminated article worn by a user that illuminates when certain motions are made by the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,289 (Fuller et al.) discloses an interactive protective system that includes a protective garment worn by the operator and includes sensors which detect respective conditions for alerting the operator about nearby dangers.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,870,818 (Barton et al.) and 4,933,852 (Lemelson) disclose apparatus for indicating operational characteristics of a machine, such as a motor vehicle, that utilizes among other things synthetic speech to advise the operator of appropriate action to be taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,726 (Dentz) discloses a hood actuated warning device for motor vehicles that warns the operator in the event that the hood of the vehicle is not fully closed at such times when the vehicle is being operated.
However, there remains a need for a compact device that is readily attachable to almost any movable item, or that is integrally formed with almost any movable item, that provides an alert signal (e.g., an advisory statement, a visual indication, or a tactile indication) to the person who initially moves or operates the item and then remains silent during the item's use, and emits the alert signal again only after a certain amount of time that the item remains stationary or non-operative.